Hamilton Half Bloods
by notmariah7
Summary: After a plane crash, Alexander Hamilton wakes up in a strange camp: Camp Half-Blood. After finding out that he is half god, he must find out who his all-powerful parent is. Once they know, chaos ensues at camp, and Alex must fight for his life. (Co-written by my friend tyozzie123)
1. Chapter 1

_**I Was Having a Good Dream, Then a Plane Blew Up**_

 _ **John**_

I never thought my first quest would involve saving a worm, but what can you do? I was honored to be chosen to save the worm queen, and who better to send me on this quest than Wormes, the all powerful god of worms? The fate of the world rested on me; saving the worm queen was the only way to save the world from the evil dirt demon. Wormes believed that only the greatest child of Apollo would be able to succeed in such a quest, and apparently, that was me. I wasn't sure I was the greatest, but I would certainly believe it for Wormes' sake.

I was so close to saving the world. Riding on the worm queen to fight the dirt demon, a few yards, and I could finally kill this awful creature. Once I was within range I raised my slingshot, taking aim right for the head, when the monster roared.

The sound was unfathomably loud, and it woke me immediately. My first thought was _What was that dream about? There's no such thing as dirt demons._ My second thought was _What is that noise?_ I pulled myself out of bed, rubbing my eyes. It couldn't be later than 3 am. I looked around, and saw that my half-siblings were waking up, too, and all of them seemed just as confused as I did. Then, the rumbling overhead turned into a loud explosion in the distance, making me run outside to see what was happening.

I saw heaps of flaming metal around the pine tree on Half-Blood Hill. Kids from the other cabins began to crowd around the tree, looking at whatever was there. I felt compelled to do the same, so I sprinted across camp towards the fire. When I arrived, I saw that there was a lot more damage than I'd suspected. _Great, now we're going to have to clean this up,_ I thought.

An entire commercial airplane lay destroyed just outside the border of camp. I knew that there were no survivors. This was too much damage; no one could have possibly survived. I noticed a group of my fellow demigods surrounding something on the ground. I walked over, wondering what could have possibly fallen through the border. As people parted to let me through, I heard whispers, and saw people with wide eyes and open mouths. I looked down, finally seeing what fell.

It was a teenage boy. He was unconscious, of course, but it was surprising enough that he was alive at all. He had shoulder-length, flowing, brown hair and light olive skin. He was fairly short and frail, but his face made him look much older. Although he was asleep, he seemed to be talking quietly, as if he was dreaming.

"Huh. He's cute." Several people turned their heads at my observation. My face grew warm, and I corrected myself with, "I mean, he's a demi." I saw my half-sisters, Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy, snickering at me. My face grew even warmer, but I looked the boy over. "We should get him to an infirmary, or our cabin at the least. He needs help." I pointed out.

After struggling to lift the boy's body, a small group of people eventually trudged to the Big House with the boy between them.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Apparently, Our First President Was a Horse_**

 _ **Alex**_

I saw black, I panicked, thinking I was blind, before realizing I just had my eyes closed. I blinked them open, and looked around, taking in a big room filled with other simple beds, chairs, and cabinets. It suddenly occurred to me that I didn't know where I was, and I started to panic again.

The last thing I could remember was being on a plane during a storm. The lightning was bright as it struck the plane, and we were suddenly going down. I didn't remember when I passed out, or if I did at all. For all I knew, Death had finally tracked me down, and I was in Heaven or Hell or the Underworld.

I climbed out of the bed, testing my legs. I didn't fall, which was good, so I made my way to the nearest door. What was behind this door would hopefully give me a clue to figuring out where I was. I grabbed the handle and pulled the door inward, staring out into the room beyond.

The room was not what I expected. I looked around and saw poker tables, lawn chairs, taxidermy animals, and an arcade 'Pac-Man' machine. The room had relatively large windows that looked out onto rolling hills, a forest on one side, and a lake in the distance. By far, the strangest part of the room were the people in it. The first was sitting at one of the poker tables, staring at his hand of cards. The man was overweight, with a big scraggly beard. He might have been handsome when he was younger, but the years (and probably alcohol) had not been kind to him. His choice of fashion was questionable, with a bright floral shirt covered in tropical birds, khaki shorts, and white socks that went up to his calf. But the socks wouldn't be so bad, if he had paired them with anything except the sandals he was currently wearing. As if that wasn't enough, the second person was even stranger. If I could even call him a person at all…

The most obvious thing about him was that his entire bottom half was a white horse. The rest of him appeared fairly normal, if not strikingly similar to a painting of George Washington I had seen before. I stared at him, petrified and extremely confused, until I realized that he was staring right back at me.

"Hello," the centaur casually said, as if none of this was absolutely insane. I couldn't seem to answer, so he continued, "Glad to see you're awake."

"Yeah," the other man grumbled. "Now you can clean up that plane you dropped."

"What do you mean the plane that I dropped? I didn't drop anything," I replied, surprising myself by my tone, considering it was the first thing I'd said since I woke up, and that I had woken up to this.

"Oh, I don't know. Just the gigantic Boeing 747 that fell from the sky, probably because of you, considering you're the only survivor. Of course, being alive is temporary..."

The centaur sighed in frustration. "Ignore Mr. D," he told me. "He's just a bit, uh, sassy. He means well."

"No, I don't."

"Anyway, yes, the plane you were in did drop, so to speak. You had fallen through the border to our camp, here."

"Camp?" I asked.

"Yes. This is Camp Half-Blood."

"Half-Blood?"

"Yeah," the other man-Mr. D-said. "Half god, half mortal. Does no one watch the orientation film?"

"Did you say half _god_?"

"Yeah. And I half care."

"This camp is a safe haven for demigods," the centaur-Washington, as I began to call him-interrupted. "They come here to learn and train so they might survive easier out in the world. Life is dangerous for children of the gods."

"Hang on," I said. "I'm dead, right? Or, at least, dreaming? Because, one, gods don't exist, and, two, George Washington is a freaking centaur."

"I have been told I look like him," Washington mused. "But, no. You aren't dead nor dreaming. And my name is Chiron."

I thought for a moment. "Isn't Chiron from Greek mythology? That one guy who trained a bunch of people, right?"

"Yes."

"And you're him?"

"Yes."

"Okay...but the gods aren't real."

"Me-dammit." Mr. D caught my attention. He waved his hand and a can of diet Coke appeared on the table in front of him. He opened it, grumbling, "I'm the god of wine and I'm dying of thirst." I just gaped at him. Okay, so, maybe I was dead. Or maybe…

"Did you just say you were a god?"

"Dionysus, the god of wine." He rolled his eyes. "The gods are real. Yippy-skippy."

"Oh. Oh my…" I felt like I might pass out again. "So...the Greek gods are real?"

"Yes," Washington/Chiron said, seeming happy that I was finally understanding.

"And...I'm a demigod?"

"Yes."

"But...my mom wasn't a god or goddess or whatever."

"Then your father was."

I scoffed. "If my dad's a god, he's got some explaining to do. He showed no sign that he might even care about us."

"The gods...they have a hard time with that...most have so many children that they are hard to keep track of. The best they can usually do is send a sign."

"A sign?'

"If they choose to claim you, yes, they'll send a sign to say you're their own."

"And if they don't?"

Washington hesitated, his horsey tail swishing. "I'm sure your father will. After all, you were important enough to anger Zeus-" Thunder roared outside, making me jump. "I mean, you seem important. We will help you figure things out here."

I didn't know what to say, so I just nodded. Suddenly, the front doors to the building opened, and a boy stepped in. He had a shaved head and stood with an air of confidence.

"Ah! Mr. Burr, I'm glad you came. As you can see we have a new demigod." Washington said, turning to the boy. "I need you to show him around, but he hasn't been claimed yet; be sure to show him all the cabins. Maybe showing him the cabins will prompt his parent to claim him."

The boy nodded, and glanced at me, "I'm Aaron Burr, but everyone calls me Burr." He said, holding out his hand.

I shook his hand, introducing myself as "Alexander Hamilton." Burr just nodded and turned on his heel, indicating for me to follow.

"I'm assuming they filled you in on camp. So, we're going to start at the cabins, maybe you'll be claimed, but don't be surprised if it doesn't work." Burr said, leading me outside. The camp was huge, but before I could get a good look around, Burr began to lead me towards a cluster of cabins. Twelve bigger ones were laid out in a U shape, while several others were scattered around. Burr led me towards the bigger cabins first.

One cabin was red, and had a boar's head above the front door. There was barbed wire around the yard, and mean looking kids stood around, sharpening weapons or working out. Something big, yellow, and furry was on top of the roof. Another cabin looked like it came straight out of a Barbie movie. It was pink, with white shutters, and beautiful flowers were planted in window-boxes. We kept moving, until we came upon a simple wooden cabin.

"This is my cabin, the Athena cabin." Burr said, pointing to the owl symbol above the door. He looked over his shoulder at me, "Feel anything?" I waited a moment, but shook my head. Burr seemed disappointed, but continued moving.

All of a sudden, I heard shouting and laughing from behind me. I turned around just in time to dodge three sprinting teenagers, one of which was wielding a gold and silver sword and chasing after the other two. One of the people being chased looped around and tried to hide behind me. He was giggling, despite being threatened by a sword. The one with the sword turned to assumedly attack the person behind me, but stopped short.

"Who are you?" He asked me, a French accent lacing his voice. Burr grabbed my shoulder and led me to the side.

"He's new," Burr explained, "and you're scaring him."

"I'm actually more confused than anything," I tried to say, but Burr didn't seem to be listening. He began to lead me away, but I kept looking back. The boy who had been been behind me was looking at me so intently that he barely even noticed when he was tackled to the ground. I stopped watching them.

"I would try to stay away from those three," Burr told me. "They're nothing but trouble." I nodded in response. Burr started to take me away from the cabins, but I stopped him.

"What about all those other cabins?" I asked. "All the smaller ones?"

Burr waved my question off. "We don't have time. Just follow me." Burr took me around the camp, showing me all the different areas. There was a large, outdoor dining area with dozens of tables, a big campfire site, a stable filled with horses-no, pegasi, and then Burr decided to show me the wildlife. We walked along the edge of large forest for a while. I noticed a few girls poking their heads out from between the trees and waving at us. "Tree nymphs," Burr called them. We got to a lake, where two people were sitting at the edge of the water. Well, one was a person. One had the legs of a goat. Before I could ask about it, Burr went pale and said, "Um...let's go somewhere else." We went towards the beach, but stayed away from the water. "The sea nymphs don't like me," Burr explained. He pointed out a big strawberry field, then lead me to a training area, apparently. There I saw a tall rock climbing wall that seemed to be spurting real lava out of the top, although none of the climbers appeared to mind. An archery range was across the field, and a fairly large shed stood in the middle of it all.

Burr led me to one of the earlier cabins, and I noticed the sign was a staff with two snakes coiled around it. The Hermes cabin was way too small for the amount of kids inside. Luggage was everywhere, and where there wasn't luggage, there was a kid.

I looked to Burr, "I have to stay here?" I asked him.

"Yes. Unfortunately, when a demigod is not claimed they have to stay here until they are. As you can see, this is the result of that rule." Burr explained.

I sighed, "How can they even live in this?" I asked him.

"Don't ask me. I stayed in here for a day before I was claimed. I don't know how Hermes kids manage it." Burr said, "Well, dinner will be served soon, head to the pavilion when it's time. I recommend you find somewhere to settle down before it's taken by another kid."

With that, he left me. I turned to the cabin, and saw that everyone was staring at me.

"Um...hi." I waved slightly. No one greeted me in return. "Uh…"

"Hey, it's the plane kid!" Someone shouted.

About ten kids yelled, "We know, Seabury!" in response.

I stood, unsure of what to do. Ten minutes later a bell rung, and all the kids in the cabin jumped up, rushing out of the cabin, dragging me out with them. I was pulled all the way to the dining pavilion, and the kids headed to a table in the corner.

I followed the Hermes kids to their table and tried to take a seat but found no empty spaces. "Um...guys? Where do I sit?" I asked, looking around.

A boy I was sure just appeared from nowhere turned to me. These kids really did just multiply didn't they? "Sit on the floor if there's no room." He answered.

I gave a humorless chuckle. "You're not serious," I replied.

The boy stared me in the eye. "Dead," he stated, indicating the floor. I sighed and sat on the ground after grabbing a plate from the table. I could already tell I was going to just love it here.

In the middle of dinner, Washington called our attention to the front, where he and Mr. D sat. Mr. D casually sipped at a Diet Coke while Washington loudly pounded his hooves on the ground.

"Attention, demigods," Washington shouted over the noise of the pavilion, silencing the campers. "Due to last night's, uh, surprise arrival, tonight's game of capture the flag will have to be postponed until next Friday, instead." Most of the campers began to shout their disapproval. It took Washington a good three minutes to quiet everyone down again. "However, we now have a new camper. His name is Alexander Hamilton, and he will be staying in the Hermes cabin until he is claimed by his godly parent." Some campers cheered and applauded, while others booed. I glanced back at Washington as he stomped his hooves again. "Now, everyone calm down and continue with your meal. Don't forget to give a portion to your parent!" Washington concluded.

The Hermes kids got up, carrying their plates with them. I stood, and followed behind, watching so I would know what to do. Some kids prayed to Hermes, while others prayed in general, other unclaimed kids hoping to get claimed. I frowned, and saw they were scraping part of their meal into the fire. It seemed a bit of a waste to me, but I suppose these kids really felt honoring the parent they never met was important.

It was finally my turn, and I thought for a moment. "Dad, if you're out there...if you care even a little, send me a sign, anything." I whispered, scraping some food into the blazing fire. As the food burned, I noticed that it smelled of fresh fruit and chocolate, neither of which we had been eating. I ignored it. It was probably just some more terrifying magic crap that shouldn't have existed.

I sighed in frustration as I went back to the table with the Hermes kids and sat on the ground again. So far, my time here wasn't going so well.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A Child of the War God is More Fabulous Than Me**_

 _ **Alex**_

I grumbled as the Hermes kids started moving around the cabin. It was too early for this. I covered my head and curled up to try to get more sleep when a Hermes kid bumped into me. "Oh, sorry," he said and just kept walking. I groaned. Well, I was awake now. I stood and stretched, glaring daggers at anyone who dared try to talk to me before my mind could focus.

When I was close to getting into an argument with an extremely annoying kid named Samuel Seabury, a knock sounded at the cabin door. It was early, and everyone looked at each other, wondering what was so important. A girl opened the door and gasped.

"Oh! Hey, John. What can we do for you?" She asked.

"Hey, Natalie," a boy's voice said from outside the cabin. "I'm just looking for someone."

"Okay. Come on in, then." The girl, Natalie, apparently, opened the door wider, letting the boy in. I recognized him the moment I saw him. He was the boy who had hidden behind me and stared at me the day before. He had long, curly hair that was pulled in a ponytail, and hundreds of freckles covering his face and body. The boy glanced around the room for a moment, until his hazel eyes landed on me. He looked at me for a moment, smiled, then gestured for me to follow him. Some of the other kids in the cabin stared at me as I shyly followed the boy out of the cabin. He led me away from the cabin, and neither of us spoke for a while as we walked through the camp in no particular direction.

Finally the silence grew awkward to me, and I spoke up. "So…"

"John Laurens," the boy said.

"Oh. Uh. Alexander Hamilton." John nodded. "Um...what are we doing right now?"

"I'm just taking you to the pavilion for breakfast."

"I could have done that on my own, you know."

"I know that. I also wanted to talk to you."

"Oh. About what?"

"How was your tour yesterday?"

"It was alright. My favorite part was when your friend almost impaled me. If they are your friend, at all…" John laughed a bit. It was a nice laugh.

"Yeah, he is. He's actually pretty cool when he isn't pissed off. You'd love him."

"Uh-huh…"

"Anyway, I'm going to take you on a new tour. A better tour."

"Okay. But, why?"

"Because Burr's bad with human interaction, and therefore gives bad tours. Besides," John started singing, "anything Burr can do, I can do better~" He smiled at me again. I looked away from him.

"Well, one, I think I can understand that first part, and, two, you have a wonderful singing voice."

"I should hope so. I am a child of Apollo, after all."

"Oh, why would that make you a good singer? Is he the god of singing?"

John gave me a funny look, "No, well, yes. He's the god of music, poetry, medicine, and sometimes, depending on the story, the sun."

"Oh, and the other gods, what are they the gods of? Since I don't know my parent."

"Well, that'll take a while to explain. How about you meet me at cabin one up there after breakfast? I can show you around then."

"Okay."

Without saying anything else, John walked away.

 _ **After Breakfast…**_

I made my way to Cabin 1, and, as promised, John was there. He smiled and waved at me as I got closer to the large, marble cabin.

"You ready to start your tour?" John asked me.

"Sure, I guess." I shrugged.

"So," John pointed at the cabin, "what do you know about Zeus?"

"Um...he's, like, the king of the gods, right? And he's married to Hera." John snickered for some reason. "Also, Zeus controls the sky and storms and stuff."

"Okay, well, you aren't wrong," John said. "That's good." John seemed to consider the cabin, then the sky, before speaking again. "Well, first off, Zeus is not your typical husband. In fact, most of Greek Mythology is caused because Zeus couldn't keep it in his pants." John paused, looking at the sky again, then pointed at the other cabin, Cabin 2. "That's Hera's cabin. It's empty, because, unlike Zeus, she doesn't cheat on her spouse.

"Second," John continued, "Zeus doesn't appreciate other demigods in his sky, especially if they're a child of Poseidon or Hades. In Zeus's mind, they should stick to their father's domain." I took in the giant 'cabins', if that's what you could call them, and turned to John, who had started speaking again. "Now, with Hera, different people tell different stories, but everyone agrees that Hera is a possessive, jealous, homicidal bridezilla. She will try to kill or manipulate as many of Zeus's demigod children as possible, and she's even gone as far as to erase people's memories before. Luckily, there haven't been many issues since Ancient Greece, but still."

All I could think to say was, "Huh."

"You got all that?"

"Yeah, I guess. Who's next?"

John started walking away instead of answering. I followed him to a blue fishing cabin, which seemed strange to me, considering we weren't next to any bodies of water at the time. What was even stranger was the smell of seawater wafting out of the cabin.

"Let me guess. Poseidon? God of the sea?" I assumed.

John nodded. "Yup. Poseidon is powerful, he's also the god of earthquakes and horses. Don't ask me why horses, he just is, it's a long story. Anyway, he's also pretty territorial, but not 'I'm gonna kill you because you're not my kid' type territorial. He'd probably make it difficult for you, but you wouldn't die out there. Overall Poseidon is pretty chill, but often the ocean will reflect his mood. He had one famous son who actually went to camp years ago. Anyway, there's not much to be said, other than be careful if you're ever in the ocean." John paused. "Unless you're his son."

I considered it. I hadn't had great experiences with the ocean before, so I doubted I was a child of Poseidon. Of course, my father could have just hated me.

I realized John had begun to walk away again. I quickly followed him to the next cabin. He showed me the Demeter cabin, then to a big red cabin covered in barbed wire and weapons. A boar's head was above the door, and the sounds of people shouting came from inside. I looked up, once again seeing a strange furry mass on the roof.

"Ares, the god of war," John told me. "Now, Ares is your classic biker bad boy. He's the meanest kid on the playground, he stomps on Poseidon's sand castles, and takes pleasure in the 'slaughter' part of war. He's reckless, and his kids are almost always the same way. He also happens to be the lover of Aphrodite, the wife of Hephaestus, everyone knows it, and still they aren't shamed for it. Hephaestus and him are always at each other's throats because of it."

"What's that thing on top of the cabin?" I wondered.

"That's Cornelius," John said.

"Who?" But John was already moving on to the next cabin. It was a simple, gray stone cabin with an owl over the door.

"Athena's cabin. Burr's mom," John said. "Athena is the goddess of wisdom, crafts, and battle strategy. If Ares is the slaughter, I guess you could say he's the offense in war, then Athena is the defense. She fights smart, which is scarier than fighting recklessly, in my opinion. Athena is a sworn maiden, which means she doesn't give birth to children."

"Then how-?" I began, but John cut me off.

"I said she doesn't _give birth_ , Zeus had her through his head, and she essentially does the same thing."

"Wait, what?"

"She combines her brain with her chosen mortal's brain. Boom! You have a brain child."

I narrowed my eyes in confusion, but I didn't get to ask anymore questions. John just kept talking.

"Athena back in the day saw a girl who was good at weaving, and long story short they had a weaving contest. No one is sure who won, and no one dares question it, but the girl was turned into a giant spider-woman, named Arachne. This caused Arachne to send her spider minions after Athena children, causing them to have a great fear of spiders. Don't ever, _ever_ , show a spider to an Athena kid, they will actually kill you. Lesson of the day, don't claim you're better than Athena at _anything_."

"Noted. Who's cabin next?"

John smiled wide, and I nearly had to shield my eyes because of how bright it was. "Mine." John practically skipped to the glowing yellow cabin across the field. I had to run to keep up, then I had to step back when John suddenly did a cartwheel. He landed on his feet and gestured to the cabin.

"This is the Apollo cabin. He's basically the god of everything the other gods aren't. He's the god of music, poetry, prophecy, the sun, medicine, archery, to name the most well-known." He was grinning widely. "Apollo's twin is Artemis," He said, pointing to the silver cabin next to Apollo's. "He's younger, but he always claims he's older. Apollo drives the sun chariot sometimes, but the sun can revolve without his help. But one of his favorite past-times includes driving by camp at 3 in the morning blaring music only his children can hear." John glared at the sun.

"Anyways, his kids have a lot of the same talents as him, generally they're good at archery, music and healing. Sometimes we have others who can control light, or are good at poetry or actually can cause sickness." He listed. "Be careful, if you get on our bad side we can curse you to speak in rhymes for a week." He said, winking at me. I quickly looked away from him, looking at the cabin, instead.

John studied me, the way I squinted at the bright cabin, and said, "You don't really strike me as a child of Apollo."

"Gee, thanks." I mumbled.

"No offense, it's just that a lot of Apollo kids are upbeat all the time, and love the sun and bright colors. You don't seem to enjoy it all that much," John replied, and whispered, "Plus, Apollo kids are generally taller."

I chose to ignore that last bit as John led the way to the next cabin. The cabin looked like a mini factory. It was made of brick and metal, and had gears above the door. "Cabin 9, Hephaestus, god of forges, fire, and...uh...building stuff," John stated. "Hephaestus, husband of Aphrodite, enemy of Ares. Hephaestus had a rough life, and still does. When he was born, his mom, Hera, you remember her, threw him off the side of Mt. Olympus because he was ugly. It was no surprise, that's what you get when you have only Hera as a parent."

My eyes widened. _What is this family?_

"Hephaestus kids generally are considered the least attractive, although I've seen some pretty bad Hermes kids. Anyway, they're always good at building, and are generally more resistant to extreme heats. One kid a while ago could actually make and control fire, but it's very rare." John continued, "My friend's one of Hephaestus's kids, but you'll see him later."

I didn't know whether to be excited or terrified.

When we got to the twelfth cabin, John asked me if I had met Mr. D, yet.

"Yes," I answered, "but I don't think he likes me."

"He doesn't like anyone."

"Isn't he a god?"

"Yup. Dionysus. He's the god alcohol, more specifically wine, and parties. But he's also the patron god of people who are confused about their gender or sexuality. He understands, because when he was little, he was forced to pretend to be a girl."

"Huh. That's actually pretty cool," I said. "The gender and sexuality part, anyway." John looked at me curiously for a minute, his lips parted like he was about to say something. "What?"

John blinked and looked away. "Nothing. Let's go look at the minor gods' cabins." I was stunned by John's sudden lack of excitement, but I got over it quickly. John led me to a fully black cabin with torches of green fire on its walls. A skull hung over the door.

"This is Hades, isn't it?" I guessed.

"Yes, it is," John replied.

"But he isn't a minor god. He's one of the most important ones."

"You're right, but he wasn't recognized as one for a long while. He's the god of-"

"The Underworld," I interrupted, "and wealth. He's married to Persephone, the goddess of springtime, essentially. Hades kidnapped her but she stayed with him and leaves the Underworld each spring." John gaped at me for a moment.

"You know a lot about Hades."

I shrugged. "I can relate to the misunderstood. I read a lot of books involving people like that. The story of Hades and Persephone is my mom's favorite." I looked down at the ground. "I mean, it _was_ her favorite."

"Well…" John seemed to hesitate. "It's not just a story. It's true. But Zeus told Hades to kidnap her, because Zeus has _such_ a way with women."

I didn't know how, but John had somehow made me smile. It was a small smile, but a smile nonetheless.

John took me to see all of the minor gods' cabins, then led me back towards the bigger cabins. I asked him why we were going back, and he told me that he wanted to find his friend.

"The child of Hephaestus?" I asked.

"No, the other one."

"What other one?" Once again, John didn't answer me. He just headed straight for the Aphrodite cabin, which looked a lot like a little girl's doll-house. "Your friend is an Aphrodite kid?"

John snorted, then waved at the two people sitting on the cabin's porch. One was a girl with long hair that covered half of her face. The other was the boy that had been chasing John and just about killed me the day before. Their camp shirts were either cut or tied to be more stylish, and their hairstyles were on point. The boy was wearing a gold and silver-looking ring with a large red ruby in the center. Looking at them, I noticed that they were both very good looking. Fabulous, even. They stopped their conversation to wave back at John.

"Hey, Laf. Hey, Maria," John greeted.

"Bonjour!" The boy cheerfully responded with a smile. The girl nodded a hello.

"I'm showing the new kid around," John told them. "I figured I would introduce him to my friends."

"I see." The boy stood, then bowed with a flourish. "Je m'appelle Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette. Lafayette or Laf for short." He winked at me.

"Uh...okay," I said. "Lafayette it is. You're French?"

"Oui. I came directly from France years ago. It is a beautiful country, non?"

"I would assume so. I've heard that it is." Lafayette nodded as if I had given him the correct answer to a math question. "So...who's your parent?" I awkwardly asked.

"Ares."

I stammered for a moment. "Wait, what?"

Lafayette tilted his head to the side, his smile becoming creepy. "Is there a problem?"

"He just thought you were an Aphrodite kid," John hurriedly cut in, "because you're at the cabin and stuff."

Lafayette blinked, his smile returning to normal. "Oh. Okay, then." John sighed in what sounded like relief.

"I'm going to show him the forges, next," John said. "I think Herc is there. You want to come with?"

John had barely finished the question before Lafayette jumped down off the porch. He started to skip ahead of us, calling out, "Hurry up!" John and I followed him, but kept our distance.

"He doesn't look or act like an Ares kid," I muttered. "At least, not how I would assume they act."

"You just don't know him," John said. "One wrong word and he will try to kill you. Not much can keep him from succeeding."

"Yet, you're friends with him?"

"Yeah. But I know how to keep him from killing me, usually."

"Usually?"

"It takes help sometimes. He is one of the most powerful children of Ares, after all."

"He really doesn't seem to be that dangerous, though."

"Again, you've only just met him."

We stopped at what I assumed were the forges. It was a big brick building with multiple smoke stacks poking out of the roof at seemingly random locations. There were no windows, and the door seemed wide enough to fit a car through it. We walked in, and I was shocked at how crowded and messy things were. There were multiple work tables scattered about with an assortment of weapons, shields, and other mechanical projects on them. There were multiple forges, and big kids with leather aprons and gloves just reached into the flames when they wanted to check on something. The air was difficult to breathe in from the smoke, and the floor was covered in ash and scuff marks.

I was about to express my usual concern to John, but I was stopped by the sound of a squeal, then a thud, then a clang of metal hitting the floor. No one seemed to think anything was wrong as I looked around in panic. John smiled smugly and pointed towards one of the work tables. Lafayette had tackled someone and had them pushed against the table as they furiously made out.

"Oh. Um…" I looked away shyly and heard John laugh quietly.

"Laf, Herc," John called out, "save it for later." I hesitantly looked up to see Lafayette step away from the person he had been kissing. They were a big, very strong looking guy. "Alex," John said, "this is Hercules, child of Hephaestus, boyfriend of Lafayette." Hercules nodded, hugging Lafayette to his side.

"Wait, he's a child of Ares, which was already surprising, and he's-"

"Gay," Lafayette cut me off, smiling. His smile shifted into a scary one. "Is there an issue with that?" I gulped, suddenly understanding what John had meant.

"No, no, not at all. It just caught me off guard, is all." I tried to speak fast before something bad happened to me. I saw Lafayette reaching for his ring. "I'm actually bisexual, so...no hard feelings, okay?" Lafayette narrowed his eyes at me, then glanced over at John, before smiling sweetly again.

"Of course not. I apologize."

"So, relationships like this are allowed here?"

"As long as you aren't in the same cabin as your amore, yes. Which is very good for someone like me. I think the only person gayer than me is John." Lafayette smirked at John, who was glaring daggers at him. Maybe it was just the heat of the forge causing it, but John's cheeks looked significantly more pink. John looked at me, then quickly turned away.

"You know what, we'll leave you two to have your fun," John said, turning around.

"We will!" Lafayette giggled as I followed John out of the forges and into fresh air.

John clenched his fists at his sides as he stormed away from the forges. I understood why he was upset.

"Hey, John?"

"What?" John grumbled.

"Um...I know that you're upset that he said that. But I really don't care what you are." John glanced up at me.

"Okay."

I gently patted John's shoulder, and he relaxed slightly. "Where are we going now?" I asked.

"To see my sisters," John answered. "Well, my half sisters. They're really cool. They're at the archery range, I think."

"Okay." We walked on in silence for a few minutes until we got to the training field. We went to the archery range, where I saw three girls notching arrows in their bows. They all raised their bows, taking aim. I didn't realize I was standing right in front of a target until John pulled me backwards as the girls simultaneously let their arrows fly. One of the arrows whizzed right past my head and buried itself in the direct center of the target. The other two arrows did the same in their targets.

"Hey, Angie!" John shouted. "Watch where you're shooting!"

"Watch where you're standing!" The first girl yelled back at him.

John sighed. "Angelica Schuyler. My older sister." The three girls walked over to us, holding their bows over their shoulders. I noted that they all looked different. Angelica had dark brown hair, skin, and eyes. The middle girl had asian facial features and straight, jet black hair. The third and shortest girl had caramel colored skin and fluffy brown hair. "Alex?"

I blinked. "What?"

"You were staring."

"Sorry. I just...I got confused for a second. I just remembered that you're all half siblings, though." Angelica sighed deeply. "What?"

"Eliza, Peggy, and I aren't half siblings," Angelica told me.

"What? But you all look so-"

"Different? Yeah. Our dad, Apollo, really liked our mom. He went back to her a lot. Unfortunately, he also really liked to change his appearance every so often."

"I think he was going through a phase," Eliza said.

"Careful," John said, "you don't want him to play heavy metal again." The four Apollo kids shuddered.

"So, you're all children of Apollo?" I clarified. The four of them nodded. "So, you're all good at archery, then?"

"Not necessarily. Eliza and I are really good with medicine, especially Eliza. Peggy is pretty good with poetry. It's really just a coincidence that the four of us are all good with archery and music."

"You're good at archery?" I asked John.

"Well...I guess? I don't usually use a bow, though. Or arrows."

"What do you mean?"

John laughed a bit. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a basic wooden slingshot.

"A...slingshot?"

"Yup." John tossed the slingshot between his hands as he scanned the ground. He knelt down and picked up a rock a little smaller than a golf ball. He stayed in this position as he aimed for the arrow that Angelica had shot earlier. John pulled the rock back in the slingshot, then let it go. The stone launched towards the arrow, snapping it in half, then went on to do the same to the other two arrows. The rock kept flying, disappearing into the woods. John stood up and bowed. I jokingly applauded for him. John smirked at his sisters, who all glared at him for breaking their arrows.

And that was when we heard the scream.

Well, it sounded more like a banshee screeching, or a basic valley girl who dropped her Starbucks, but that was essentially the same thing. The eyes of John and his sisters widened, and the girls broke into a sprint, going far away from the field. I looked to John, who was hastily shoving his slingshot back into his pocket as two figures appeared from the woods.

One of the people was a tall boy with lots of curls on his head, and even more anger on his face. The second person was about the same height, but had short cropped hair, revealing tiny horns on his head. He also had the furry legs of a goat, but that point probably wasn't very important.

Especially not since the first boy was yelling.

"What in the Underworld is wrong with you Laurens?" The boy screeched in John's face. John just stood there, not showing any emotion.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Thomas," John responded, his voice having no emotion, either.

"You know very well what I'm talking about," Thomas retorted. "No one else can shoot a rock like that."

"I appreciate the compliment, but I still don't know what you're talking about."

"I wasn't complimenting you! I was proving that you _hurt_ Maddie!"

"That's not his name."

"Shut up!"

At this point, I was greatly confused. I glanced over at the half-goat boy, who was blushing and shifting his gaze between the ground and Thomas, who was, unfortunately, still yelling.

"I can't believe you can just hurt him and then act like nothing's wrong!"

John looked over at the other boy. "I apologize if I hurt you, James."

"You didn't, really," James said quietly. "He's just being protective, again."

"Yes, I am," Thomas agreed. "But just because you don't deserve to get hit by flying rocks." Thomas glared at John again. "It better not happen again. I can get my dad to do something terrible to you."

"We all know he won't listen to you," John muttered.

"What was that?"

"I said I'll make sure to accidently hit you with the rock next time."

Thomas huffed, grabbed James' hand, and stormed off. I watched as the boys retreated towards the cabins.

I turned to John, "Who-"

"Thomas Jefferson. The biggest pain in the world you will ever meet."

"I don't think that's the saying."

"Well, he's a pain to the entire world just by existing, so that's the saying now." John replied.

"Who's the other boy?" I asked.

"James Madison, Thomas's...ah...boyfriend." John said, glancing at me. "Thomas's dad doesn't exactly approve though."

"Who is his dad?"

"Mr. D. Dionysus."

I gaped at him. "His dad is here?"

"Yup."

It took me a second to take that in and calm down. "Why doesn't he like their relationship? I thought Dionysus was the patron god of sexuality and stuff."

"Yeah. That's not his problem. He doesn't like that his son is dating a satyr."

"A satyr?"

"Half-goat," John explained.

"Oh. Why doesn't he want his son to date a satyr?"

"Dionysus has a...history with satyrs." John left it at that.

"So...I assume I should stay away from them?" I asked.

"Yeah. But it's pretty fun to mess with Thomas, sometimes." John said with a smirk.

"If you can stand his screeching."

John laughed. "Good point."

I let another small smile appear on my face. _Two in one day, it's a miracle._


	4. Chapter 4

_**Stories at the Campfire Get Heated - Part One**_

 **John**

So, Alexander was pretty cool. I thought it was easy to see that, but, of course, that may have just been me. At dinner that day, my sisters told me that I probably only thought that because I might like him. I didn't actually tell them if I did or not.

Regardless, after dinner, I found Alexander and led him to the campfire. He followed me without really questioning anything. The fire was bright, and the demigods already around it were already singing campfire songs. The one from _Spongebob_ , specifically. I noticed Alex cringing. I found a place for us to sit, then began to sing with everyone else. Alexander looked at me as if he was actually offended. I laughed, and Alex looked away.

After singing a few songs with the rest of the camp, we all quieted down for storytime. It had become a sort of tradition to have as many people as possible tell a story by the end of the summer. Most of the time, the stories were made up, but some were about the gods or ancient Greece, and some were life stories of one of the demigods in camp. Usually, these backstories were interesting, but then there were the many times that Thomas Jefferson decided to talk about himself.

"My turn to tell a story," Thomas shouted excitedly from the other side of the campfire. He stood and clapped his hands together while everyone else groaned. He told the story of how he was claimed about four times every summer, so it was starting to get annoying.

"We already know everything," someone yelled.

"Not everyone does." Thomas looked directly at Alexander, smirking. I sighed, getting in a more comfortable position. This was going to take forever. Despite the many protests, Thomas began to tell the 'amazing' story of how he came to camp. "It all started when I was a sophomore in high school a few years ago.

"Hurry up, Jemmy!" I whined, bouncing on the balls of my feet. Still, James took his time putting his things in his backpack. I groaned. "Could you move any slower?"

"Do you want me to?" James retorted. I rolled my eyes. "Why do you want to hurry, anyway?"

"It's the last day of sophomore year," I reminded him. "We're movin' up in the world. We've gotta commemorate."

"You sound so southern right now."

"You love it."

James sighed and hiked up his backpack, adjusted the bandana on his head, then grabbed his crutches. We headed towards the exit of the school. James asked, "How do you plan on commemorating?"

"You'll see." I winked at him. He rolled his eyes.

I helped James into my purple car, then drove away from the school as fast as legally possible. When we passed my apartment building, James said, "I thought we were going to hang out at your house."

"We will," I promised. "We just need to get something first."

"Oh, the commemoration thing?"

"Don't sound so weirded out."

"It doesn't seem all that important."

"Clearly you don't understand how hard it is to get halfway through high school."

"You have no idea, yet," James muttered.

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing."

I would have questioned him further, but we were already at the gas station.

"What are we doing here?"

"Well, James, my mom is working at the bar late tonight, so..." I smiled. "It's been a tradition since Greek mythology to drink at a celebration. Dionysus, you know? I say we do the same."

James narrowed his eyes at me. "Thomas, you're barely sixteen. You can't have alcohol, yet."

"Not if people don't know I'm sixteen." I pulled my fake ID out of my pocket.

"There's no way they'll believe that."

My smile fell a bit. "It'll work, I swear."

"Sure. Just because you're tall doesn't mean you look like a 21 year old."

"It'll work!"

James crossed his arms. "You can't do this, and I'm not doing it, either."

"So I'm going in alone?"

James huffed. "Fine. I'll walk in with you. But only because I don't like leaving you alone."

"You're so sweet, Jemmy!" I helped James out of the car, and we headed into the gas station together. I lead the way to the back of the store, searching for the right alcohol. James stood awkwardly behind me, fidgeting with his sweatshirt sleeves, his eyes darting around. "Don't be so nervous. You'll get us caught."

James apologized. "It just...smells so weird in here..."

"Of course it does," I scoffed. "It's a nasty gas station."

"It's...bad."

"Found it!" I triumphantly lifted the bottle of red wine. "Doesn't it just look wonderful?" James stared at me with a pleading look. "What?"

"Nothing. Just...you reminded me of someone just then..."

I didn't ask. "Let's go try this." As casually as I could, I walked up to the counter. The woman standing there was reading a magazine, but looked up at me when I stood in front of her. Her eyes narrowed and looked over me. I held out the wine.

"Are you 21?" The woman questioned. I handed her my fake ID. She stared at it for a moment. I could sense James fidgeting behind me. The woman looked at me, again. I could have sworn her eyes were slitted like a snake's. She was staring at me way too long.

"Hey, I showed you my ID," I complained, "so let me buy the-"

"Are you mortal?"

"Wait, what?" I watched the woman stand...I thought she already was standing...whatever it was, she got taller. A lot taller. Too tall. I distantly felt my keys slip out of my pocket as the woman towered over me.

"Demigodsss..." The woman lunged, but I was dragged out of the way before she could grab me. The woman rushed out from behind the counter, but James was quicker to the draw, pulling me towards the door. He was running so fast, but his crutches were gone. We burst through the door and towards my car. I tried to find my keys, but they had disappeared. James jumped into the driver's seat.

"You can't drive!" I shouted.

"Just get in the car!" James yelled back.

"But-" I heard a loud crash behind me. The woman had broken through the door, glass spraying everywhere. I didn't think she was a woman, actually. She didn't have legs; in their place were two large snake trunks. She was walking/slithering towards the car. Too fast.

My body flew forward when the car lurched backwards, then I fell back again when the car darted forward. James sped us away, going 80 in a 20. I realized I was still tightly gripping the wine bottle.

"What...wh-what just...what's happening?" I whispered.

"A Dracanae," James said, his eyes trained on the road ahead.

"A...what?"

"I'll explain later, okay?"

I glanced at James' legs. He had always used crutches. He had never walked correctly. "James, how are you-"

"Just let me focus, okay?" James yelled. I flinched. He had never been loud before, either. I stared ahead as James sped through the city. I couldn't tell where we were going until I saw the woods ahead of us.

"Why are we going to-"

"Just get ready to run. I'll lead you to the hill."

All I could do was nod.

James brought the car to a screeching halt at the edge of the woods. We got out and sprinted into the trees. I had never exercised so much in my life.

Loud thuds and crunching metal suddenly sounded off behind us. Against my better judgement, I turned around. The snake lady was standing on top of my precious car, crushing it. I wanted to scream at her. It. Whatever.

Instead, I wondered aloud, "How did she catch up to us?"

"Just keep going." James deftly jumped over a fallen tree. "We're almost there. Just have to get to the hiiiiillll!" James' scream was caused by a large rock hitting the tree next to his head. He stumbled and fell, and I hurried to help him up.

"Demigodsss!" The Dracanae screeched. James and I ran faster.

I saw the hill in the distance. On it stood a huge pine tree, a large animal, and a few people who were shouting and waving at me and James. One of them shot a flaming arrow that flew just over my head. I heard the monster behind me screaming, but she didn't slow her chase.

I wasn't all that focused in the uphill climb. I wasn't focused on the dragon next to the tree, either. Instead, what I focused on was that the moment I got past the tree, the wine bottle in my hand felt different. I looked down to see that I was now holding a two-liter of Diet Coke.

"Ew!" I chucked it as hard as I could, then heard a sickening thud as it connected with the Dracanae's head. She froze, then crumpled to the ground. The other people gaped at the now unconscious monster.

"It's not dead," a boy with a slingshot said.

"I can fix that," a boy with a French accent responded, holding out a sword.

"Go for it."

The girl with the bow glared at the first boy. "Really, John?"

"He's an Ares kid, Angie. He's fine."

I heard a squishing noise, then saw the Dracanae crumble to dust and disappear.

I vomited into the grass. "What just happened?" I asked no one in particular.

The slingshot boy-John?-turned to me, then James. "Took you long enough to bring him here."

James scoffed. "I still got him here."

I was unbelievably confused. And scared. And did I mention confused?

I jumped when someone tapped my shoulder. James was staring at me, concern in his wide eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I..." James' bandana was gone, seemingly replaced by two tiny horns. "J-James...you...you have..."

James shyly stared at the ground. "I know...the legs are weird."

"What..." I looked down. James was no longer wearing pants or shoes. I suddenly figured out why he never walked correctly: he had the legs of a goat, hooves and all.

I screamed and turned away, hyperventilating and sobbing. I heard footsteps and a deep voice ask, "Is everything alright?"

"Well...the Dracanae is gone," James said, "but Thomas is panicking."

"I can see that. How can we help him?"

"I'm not sure."

"Thomas," the deep voice called, "what is wrong?"

I slowly turned around, facing the centaur in front of me. I was already in too much shock to react much. "I'm going crazy," I muttered.

"I don't know if that's possible for someone like you," James responded.

"What does that mean?" I whined.

"This, probably."

I jumped and turned at yet another man's voice. 'What now?' I thought. This next person, however, looked completely normal. Well, besides his annoying Hawaiian shirt, socks with sandals, and can of Diet Coke, which I hated. "What?" I groaned out loud this time.

The man just snapped his fingers and said, "Mine." I had to cover my eyes at the sudden bright purple light above my head. I looked up to see a symbol floating over me. It looked like a bunch of grapes, for some reason.

"What…"

The man started to walk away. "Madison, you explain it to him."

James hurried to say, "Sir, I don't know if-"

"Do it, Madison."

"Yes, Sir!"

The man walked away, disappearing into the crowd that had gathered. James didn't say anything else.

"James," I whispered, "what is going on? Who is that? What was that...thing over my head? Where are we?" I had more questions.

"Well...this is Camp Half Blood," James started. "Everyone here is a demigod. Like, Greek demigods. Like, the Greek Gods."

"That's not...That's not possible."

"I have goat legs."

I whimpered and pulled on my hair. "Right. So...I'm a…"

"Yes. You are a child of one of the Greek Gods."

"But...my mom isn't-"

"No, she isn't. That man you just saw...that is Dionysus. The God of wine, madness, and gender and sexuality."

"O-Okay. So?"

"Thomas…" James stepped forward with his creepy goat legs. I stepped back, my heart racing. "Thomas...Dionysus is...your father."

I couldn't feel anything. I just stared blankly at James for a minute. His image started to sway. Eventually, I managed to croak out, "Cool. Great. Awesome. I'm going to pass out, now."

I fell backwards, my vision going dark before I hit the ground."


End file.
